VIII. Him

Otou-san called me after Emotional Philosophy class freaking out about the foreign hacker who broke into the cybernetic system he set to protect all of us, sending a harmful virus into out software that blocked us for seven days and made it impossible for us to use any of our electronics. He told me to pass it down to the others in the academy, just the older of us, so we could leave Lake Forest, where the Valhalla academy is in, and head back to Chicago, an hour from Lake Forest, where we stay in during school period on weekdays.

So, as soon a I was done with my last class of the day, which was Advanced Netherworld Physics III, I hopped on my Harley and left, though I went faster than I normally should, because everyone else had skipped their last period, except me. I may skip anything, except my classes. That's the only rule eomma came with to allow me to work with otou-san under zio Silas, and the reason why she puts up with the troubles I cause.

As long as I'm a straight-A+ student in everything, I'll have a free pass from her nagging, and that? That, my friend, is gold. Especially taking into consideration that what I do most is cause problems, I'm really otou-san's son, there's no denying it. Obaa-chan says we're both trouble.

The second I got to Chicago, I headed to Streeterville, the side of city with a view to lake Michigan, where zio Silas' elite skyscraper building, where we all live in, is located, with one of the best views of the US. Zio lives in the penthouse with Four and Abby, under them lives zio's parents, and under them lives zia Victoria and her parents. Then, me and my family live under her place, the best one-floor apartment after their family's.

After parking my bike in the underground side of the garage that belongs to my family, at the right of where my two cars were, I grabbed my helmet, and headed to the elevator, calmly, knowing they are all waiting for me, and that otou-san is probably annoyed with my delay, because he has a bad temper and is always annoyed. I can't say I'm different, eomma says I sound like a 70-year-old who's done with everything and everyone.

…I am.

Not a 70-year-old, though I'll be in 51 years from now.

Taking my iPhone out of the left inner pocket of my leather jacket, I added the password [1234567899987654321], and with the pods already connected to it, I opened Instagram and searched for her page, trying to see if she's finally posted something, but there was nothing.

Closing the app, I went to TikTok instead, praying mentally for her to have posted a video, anything, telling us why she's been out of touch since June, why she disappeared, or just for a video dancing whatever Kpop choreography she's into in the moment, as she's used to. But when I got to her page, like all of those months ago, the last video she posted was in June 13th, where she was dancing the choreography of Bite Me by Enhypen, with her little brother, Seojun.

As I pressed the button to go up to the penthouse, I watched it one more time, then again, and again, before scrolling to the other choreography she posted before that one where she was also dancing with her brother. She said in a short video back in February, which she spoke in Korean, that in Korean age she was 18 and Seojun was 12, and that he was already 2cm taller than her, because his appa was really tall.

She said in a way that seemed like they were from different fathers, which would make sense, because they don't look much alike one another.

"I hope she's okay," I whispered under my breath, watching her last video with Seojun one more time, before locking my phone and putting it back on my jacket, feeling my heart heavy for whatever reason.

As soon as the elevator stopped in zio Silas' place, I took off my shoes and put on the black slippers waiting for me, setting my helmet and backpack on the side table, at the left of the living room light brown leather couch. Passing a hand over my wavy black hair, I strode to the left, then to the right, and to the last door at the end of the hallway where zio's huge office was, and where all the voices were coming from.

Knocking on the door, I went inside, bowing softly to my parents, and to zio Silas, then walking where otou-san was sitting down, to stand behind him, feeling all the eyes on me. "I know I'm breathtakingly pretty, but you can just take a picture if you want to look at me so badly," I grinned wolfishly, and a wave of eyes rolling met me, then I winked at eomma.

"What took you so fucking long, Dai-Jin?" Otou-san glared up at me, red with stress, probably because everyone has been on his ass, since he's the head of the cybersecurity and of the conglomerate, and other types of security… which we handle under the radar and in secret.

I caressed his black straight hair, just to piss him off a bit more, "I had Advanced Netherworld Physics III in the last period. The others may have skipped class to come, but I couldn't do that after promising eomma that I would be the best student."

"As if that changed how much trouble you cause," Four grinned.

I scoffed, grinning back, "But it proves I'm smarter than you all."

"Smarter but the worse trouble out of us," Abby mocked.

"It's my charm," I rolled my shoulders and she cringed.

"Condescending prick," she scowled disgusted.

She's only like that because she only likes girls. "At your service."

Chuckling at my exchange with his daughter, zio Silas turned his blue eyes, so blue they are almost white, to me, "As our self-proclaimed condescending jerk is present, we shall start," he turned his eyes to otou-san, whom he's been best friends with since childhood. "You told me you managed to track the hacker's location."

I got serious with that information, "For real?" I asked otou-san.

"Yes," he nodded vehemently. "I don't know if she is still in this location, or if she abandoned her laptop there after hacking into us, but I finally managed to track her down after 15 days," it's October 2nd now, I've never seen him take this long with any other assignment.

"She? It's a women?" Aji-san Javier, who's oba-san's husband, otou-san's only sister, gasped in pure shock, the same shock that was in everyone's faces, even zio Silas's. Except me, because I bet with otou-san that it would be a women, and he bet on the opposite. My intuition is sharp.

"Not a women yet," he scoffed, "a 17-year-old."

"What?" My eyes almost popped out of my face.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?" He mocked me, eyes sharp on zio Silas. "I don't know how this girl has this skill, who taught her, who she actually is, or if it's really her who did it, or if she handed her laptop to the actual culprit, but I tracked the attack to her. That was the last time that laptop was used, it was a MacBook Pro, and she did it from a villa in a elite neighborhood in Sofia, Bulgaria."

"Bulgaria?" Everyone gasped at the same time.

A nod, "Yes," sigh. "She just hacked us, didn't really harm or steal anything. She looked into the core information, she knows who we are, what we do, that we are from Chicago, and information on you," he told zio.

Swallowing, he frowned, "Me?"

"Yes. The focus of the hacking attack was you," another sigh.

"Did you get her identity?" I asked, feeling a urge to know this.

"Her name, her family members', age, and a picture. Everything other than this is heavily blocked by a layer I could not break through," oh, that must be why he looks so exhausted and frustrated. "She lives with her mother, maternal grandparents, her cousin, maternal aunt, and her aunt's husband. I only managed to get their names, it was like… like she left only this out so I could find it."

"No… no father?" Zio asked, and the vibration on his voice told all of us what he was thinking.

That she could be his lost daughter, who his lover runaway with, Abby's twin, who he's been looking for ever since then. The stalker who had stolen Abby from her mother and sister, and came after him to bargain for Abby's life, died on the spot, zio killed her himself in a explosion of fury. He's regretted that action ever since, because he killed her before otou-san could torture her and get the information needed.

"No," otou-san said carefully.

"Show me," zio pointed at the 98" tv behind him, turning towards it with his wheeled practical chair and everyone sitting down mimicked his movement. "Connect your laptop to the projector. Show me her picture."

"Papa," Abby got to him softly, massaging his shoulders, "do you really think it could be my sister?"

"I have to see, principessa mia, if I see, I'll know," he told her.

Sighing, otou-san did what he asked and showed the girl's picture to us, and I almost fell down, "Oh shit," I cursed and they all turned to me.

"Dai-Jin," they growled almost like in a choir, and I could tell what was passing by their minds instantly.

"Jesus, I didn't sleep with her. I just…" I swallowed, "I know her."

"You know her?" Otou-san yelled in dismay and I flinched.

God help me, I almost barked at laugh, "Not in person," I quickly picked my phone from my pocket and hurried to open TikTok. "Choi Yeji, half Korean, half Bulgarian, she's a famous influencer," and I'm a fan. "Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, she has millions of followers in all of them. She's a dancer, a make-up artist, a storyteller, and good at cooking and singing, but she's always been private," I handed my phone go zio Silas whose hand was anxiously extended my way. "She's 18 years old in Korean age, 17 in our count apparently. And," I clenched my jaw, "she disappeared from all of her accounts on June 14th, her last post in everything dates back from June 13th. Her fans have been going insane."

Fuck, I'm so glad she's alive.

But what the hell? She's a hacker? She just got hotter than ever.

"She made videos with Seojun, but she always mentioned him as if he was her younger brother, he's 12 years old, and lives with her. Though there was a period of time where most of her videos she did alone, or in a dorm of some kind, so I think she might have been in a boarding school. Her grandma also participated in her videos, and there're some posts of her family gathering, but her mom and her aunt and uncle were never in them, only her grandparents, Serenity and Choi Hanwool, and Seojun." I thought she lived solely with her grandparents and her little brother… cousin.

"Wait," zio Silas stood up, eyes wide, "what was her grandma's name again, Dai-Jin?" He asked in a desperate tone and I swallowed.

"…Serenity!"

"Dio santo," he covered his mouth, hands starting to shake. "That's her mom's name. That's… Serenity and Hector. Felicity told me."

"Felicity?" Otou-san frowned. "Jesus Christ."

"What do you mean by 'Jesus Christ'?" Zio growled, anxiously.

"You only calls her 'her' and 'she', I had totally forgotten that her names was Felicity!" He growled back, both sounding like dogs. "The girl's name," he pouted at Choi Yeji's picture and my heart stopped, "is Mischief. Mischief Kalina Nosht-Choi, Choi Yeji must be her Korean name. The granddaughter of Serenity Anastasiya Nosht and Hector Aleksandr Choi, the niece of Harmony Maria Nosht-Choi and Julien Kim, Georgi Kit Nosht-Kim's older cousin, and Felicity Barbara Nosht-Choi's daughter. Born in October 7th, in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. And," he avoided zio's eyes, "a troublemaker."